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Oct 2 Vegas Shooting Reponse

I am not sure the amount of times I have woken up to the news of a mass shooting, bombing, car attack or some other horrific, senseless and vile act. However, I am sure once is too many. What is worse, are the pundits who view these tragic events and decide that it is a perfect time to push a political agenda, preach about race or create an even larger rift in the fabric that is our country. Naturally, people want to know whose fault this is. They want to point the finger, make a claim and have it been the person that they hate most be responsible for this. If you are one of these people, you are the problem.

The climate of our country has become one of name calling, idea bashing and tantrum ridden ideologs that unfortunately can find a home pretty much anywhere online. You can pick your cool aid, find people who are drinking the same flavor and hate on anyone who drinks otherwise. These people take events like what happened in Las Vegas and if the flavor of hate is different then it’s off to the races. The media loves this more than anyone. Fox News starts talking about radicals and CNN starts talking about gun owners, they bring on experts to figure out logistics and talk about garbage that really doesn’t matter. In the end, they are doing the very same thing that got us into this mess, preaching bipartisan separatism and promoting racial tensions. Why would they do this? Why would anyone escalate a terrible situation and use it to divide an already torn group of people? Because it is the easiest thing to sell.

See pain opens doors in our mind. We work so hard to rationalize and find answers to something that in all reality has no rational explanation. But when these doors open, ideas slip through that we would normally dismiss. They creep in and fill up your capacity for reason, while sinking their hooks in, occupying your mind for as long as you let them. You ever wonder why things like politics, racial tensions and just terrible things come to the surface in almost every conversation? It is because the thoughts themselves are parasitic and they want to suck the life and happiness out of every relationship and idea they do not agree with.

Here is my solution. Next time someone comes to you and tries to deliver their brand of hate as a solution to a tragic situation or even a small situation in day to day life, remember what Martin Luther King Jr. said “Darkness cannot drive out Darkness; only love can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Take the time to process your feelings instead of allowing someone to tell you how to feel. Don’t allow hatred to force its way into a door pain has opened, fill your capacity with reason and love and create a better day for yourself and everyone around you. See each person and spread the fire of compassion, hope and opportunity so that they might do the same to another. Do not pollute it with ideas and agendas, but simply spread love. This is the only way I can see putting an end to the chaos we see in the world and create a better future for mankind as a whole.